Award-winning author and visionary educational leader Alan Blankstein will present to the Illinois State community at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, 2013, in Braden Auditorium, Bone Student Center.

Alan Blankstein is the founder and president of the Harnessing Optimism and Potential through Education (HOPE) Foundation, a not-for-profit organization whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The HOPE Foundation, whose motto is “Because failure is not an option,” develops partnerships with schools’ and districts’ existing faculty and staff to create high-performing leadership teams and learning communities.

Blankstein was a former “high-risk” youth who began his career in education as a music teacher. He has worked in youth-serving organizations since 1983, including the March of Dimes, Phi Delta Kappa, and the National Educational Service (now Solution Tree), which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years. He is the author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools.

The presentation is sponsored by the College of Education, and continues the college’s commitment to providing students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members with perspectives from important voices in the field of education. Admission to the presentation is free and open to the public.